When cutting contours in wood for applications in cabinets, door parts, or the like, a special cutting tool consisting of a rotating cutter head having a plurality of contoured blades attached thereto is used. The blade contours define the contours which are ultimately cut into the wood. By utilizing precision contoured blades, cabinet doors and other wood products utilizing contoured molding fit together properly and provide a neat and attractive appearance.
In order to maintain product consistency and precision fits, the contoured blades must be removed periodically and sharpened to preserve the ability of the cutter to provide precision cuts, and it is important that all blades from a single cutting head are sharpened identically.
Typically, the contour knife blades are made from tool steel or carbide. The knives made from tool steel tend to wear quickly, which typically rounds the cutting edge. The preferred known method of sharpening the blades is to grind away a portion of the profile edge, which is the cutting edge that defines the contour shape. This so-called "profile grinding" requires a highly skilled operator and the equipment necessary is costly. This method of sharpening reduces the overall size of the contour which requires changes in the mounting arrangement of the blades in the rotary cutter head. Further, since each knife is sharpened individually and on the profile surface, the resultant sharpened blades are less likely to produce a precision contour cut than new blades, resulting in poorly fitted moldings.
Currently, many cutting blades are being formed of carbide due to its ability to withstand continued use over a longer period of time than tool steel, as well as its enhanced ability to hold an edge. Carbide contour knife blades can be disposable which greatly increases the cost of contour cutting operations while wasting materials. This method does, however, maintain the precision of the contour cut. Other carbide blades are resharpenable, but heretofore have been resharpenable only by profile grinding. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and a method of sharpening carbide blades which maintains a precision contour profile and does not require a highly skilled operator.